Friend of Caltech Makes Landmark Gift to Build a Better World

"You ought to leave the world better than you found it," engineer Allen Davis was known to say. And he did: Davis, who passed away at age 91 in 2015, left more than $60 million from his estate to Caltech.

Aiming to advance science and education for the benefit of humankind, Davis (pictured with his wife, Lenabelle) directed his bequest to support endowed chairs for faculty, a top priority in Break Through: The Caltech Campaign. To date, Caltech has drawn on Davis's gift to create four leadership chairs and one professorial chair.